 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
NASA Clears Glenn For '98 Shuttle Ride
Washington, DC July 15, 1997 -  Washington, DC July 15, 1997 - Under prodding by the Clinton White House, NASA
space officials have given the green light for U.S. Sen. John H. Glenn, Jr.
(D-OH.) to fly as a crew member of a space shuttle mission in late 1998,
SpaceCast has learned from sources in both Washington and Cape Canaveral.
Glenn has reportedly been manifested on the STS-95 space shuttle crew set
for a fall, 1998 launch. If Glenn passes his medical review, the 76 year
old former Project Mercury astronaut and 1984 Presidential candidate would
become the oldest person ever to fly into space. Glenn will be leaving his
Senate office in January, 1999. He was first elected in 1974, having left
NASA service a decade earlier to pursue a political career.Washington sources told SpaceCast that Glenn made a personal appeal to President Clinton to "clear the way" for a final approval decision by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, who sources say reluctantly approved the move. Glenn's launch into space as a non-astronaut crew member will require an exemption to a rule imposed following the 1986 Challenger disaster that banned civilian space participants on the U.S. spacecraft. Goldin has repeatedly stood by the rule, which has grounded such persons as journalists and teachers from flying aboard the shuttles, which were deemed as too risky for nonprofessional flight crew participants. New Hampshire teacher Christa McAulliffe was killed in the Challenger explosion shortly after launch on January 28, 1986. In the wake of the accident her backup, Barbara Morgan, who was also awaiting a space mission was denied flight status. Many members of the original 1986 Teacher in Space program have urged NASA administrators to allow Morgan to fly and complete the lessons from space that McAuliffe was to teach during her flight. Sources in Washington say that the decision, when announced, will likely cause an uproar from the teachers awaiting future flight opportunities. On February 20, 1962 Glenn was launched aboard an Atlas rocket sealed inside the Friendship 7, a bell-shaped space capsule, the third manned spaceflight in U.S. history. Glenn orbited the Earth three times before parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean safely, completing the first American orbital mission. Prior to joining NASA in 1958 Glenn was a record-breaking Marine Corps. fighter pilot. A Democrat associated with President John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family, Glenn was reelected to the Senate in 1980, 1986, and 1992. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1984, but was defeated in the primaries by former Vice President Walter Mondale and Colorado Senator Gary Hart. Mondale, who went on to win the nomination was defeated by President Ronald Reagan in a landslide in November, 1984. Glenn announced last may that he would not seek another term in the Senate. He has since indicated a desire to return to space to study the effects of weightlessness on the elderly. The idea was considered remote -until Washington politicians began hearing from Glenn that he was in fact serious about the prospect of another, last space mission. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space
Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
